The Point of Ayre sits at the Isle of Man’s northerly tip, an 8km stretch of shingle, gravel, and sand dunes, designated as an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) and a National Nature Reserve.

The seasonal Visitor Centre houses exhibits and displays portraying the diversity of wildlife found at the Ayres, and a short film highlights some of the surrounding area. The area has marked nature trails leading from the discovery centre along the shingle beach and through the marram dunes and heathland. The site is more than just a remote beach, providing a home to flowering heathland, nesting birds, seals and the dramatic sea; all combine to make the Point of Ayre a truly remarkable, ever-changing landscape.

An important feature is the Point of Ayre Lighthouse, an active 19th-century lighthouse first lit in 1818, making it the oldest operational lighthouse on the island, designed and built by Robert Stevenson, grandfather of the prolific writer and novelist Robert Louis Stevenson.

The point has shingle and gravel deposited by the strong currents. This changing landscape forced the construction of a smaller light, commonly referred to as a ‘winkie’, 750 feet (230 m) seaward of the main tower in 1899. This was then repositioned a further 250 feet (76 m) in the same direction, for the same reasons, in 1950. The ‘winkie’ light was discontinued on 7 April 2010.